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Am I the only one that thinks the new hunter AA tank is awesome?
It actually has a chance of hurting hellturkeys and wave serpents (they're skimmers, right) because of armourbane.

And if you miss the first shot, you get a second chance the next turn on rear armor!
This utility, it's low point cost and reasonable resilience (arm 12, 3 hp) make it a must have for a TAC list, no?

Opinions peeps?

I agree it's a good tank considering how cheap it is points wise. The main draw back I see with it is that it takes up a heavy support slot and can't be squadroned. Three of these would screw over most flyer heavy lists for only 10 points more than a single Stormraven.

Also, I'm not too familiar with them but I'm pretty sure the issue with Wave Serpents is getting past their shield rather than their armour. I could see them being useful against Necrons tho, as I'm pretty sure most of their stuff are skimmers and a lot are AV13.

I agree. Reading my codex it's jumping out at me as a really good AA option, the S7 Ap 2 armourbane will almost always get pen rolls on all the filers out there now if you avoid the jink/invulnerable. there are lots of skimmers. flying monsters in the game that I think you will have AA targets almost every game and if not it's only 70 points so not a huge waist as it can become mobile cover/LOs blocking terrain if you don't have any targets for it. and for bonus if you miss you basically get an extra bs2 shot every turn until you hit (in rear armor no less).


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Dundas wrote:

I agree it's a good tank considering how cheap it is points wise. The main draw back I see with it is that it takes up a heavy support slot and can't be squadroned. Three of these would screw over most flyer heavy lists for only 10 points more than a single Stormraven.

Also, I'm not too familiar with them but I'm pretty sure the issue with Wave Serpents is getting past their shield rather than their armour. I could see them being useful against Necrons tho, as I'm pretty sure most of their stuff are skimmers and a lot are AV13.

the shield is tough to get penetration rolls but elder players always end up shooting the shield sooner rather than later. Once shot you are free to penetrate them.

Just based on what ive gleaned on it (not read the codex yet), it certainly seems like a very solid choice for many lists. And I think it looks pretty cool too.

I've got one and am going to try it out. It looks like the kit can make both Stalker and Hunter without any parts in common so you should be able to choose which one to field.

the key downside is the lack of effectiveness against ground targets. Firing at skimmers helps here, but the Hunter doesn't get it's bonuses (and is fairly useless against a wave serpent). I'm thinking of adding a HK missile - that way you can at least shoot something on the ground with reasonable efficiency for one turn.

Against different targets you'll want different weapons -

Stalker: FMCs, land speeders, piranhas, wave serpents (shield up), Vypers, Raiders, Crimson Hunters
Hunter - Heldrakes, Vendettas/Valkyries, Hammerheads, fire prisms and serpents (shields down), Necron arks & barges, Nightscythes, Storm Ravens

I think a real advantage could be had against Wave Serpents because, as long as you have this gun that is very likely to penetrate and explode their Serpent, they will be hesitant to even fire the shield. If they don't fire the shield you can easily stay out of range of their other guns (or just ignore them, as they don't really do a ton of damage) OR they have to advance with the Serpent, allowing your drop pods/Stormtalons easier access to that soft and juicy rear armor.

The hunter is the one that shoots a single skylance per turn right?

IIRC savant lock only works on flyers not skimmers even though you can shoot it at full bs anyway.

If not ignore (i didnt bring my book yet to work).

Actually, the Stalker works just fine against the AV 12 fliers without daemon saves or HP regen. I've lost plenty of Stormravens to flakk missiles and Hydra tanks. Plus, the non-helldrake fliers just can't cause the damage to scoring units like the helldrake can. Even if a Stormraven has sponsons, units can still go to ground in a cover and really mitigate the damage. I know this, because its been done plenty to my Stormraven.

The only flyer worthy of the Hunter is the Helldrake. Once again, this anomalous unit stands out to me. And the Stalker is WAY better against Wave Serpents, since they require spamming.

Right, savant lock only works with fliers and FMC..damn, would've been nice if it worked against skimmers.

Savant lock only works on Flyers IIRC. i seriously wish i brought my book to work :(

 Desubot wrote:
Savant lock only works on Flyers IIRC. i seriously wish i brought my book to work :(

And FMCs, although they are almost guarenteed to just enter CC to disengage the Lock.

The Hunter has a good chance(~20%) of killing any flyer that it misses. Its got similar odds(~16%) on a hit too(VSAV12, slightly better vs AV11(~18%)/10(~20%). Though taking the Baleflamer off of it or Immobilizing it would also be good, so double the results for a desired result. ~36% per shot of a desirable result vs a Helldrake.

Dundas wrote:

I agree it's a good tank considering how cheap it is points wise. The main draw back I see with it is that it takes up a heavy support slot and can't be squadroned. Three of these would screwing over most flyer heavy lists for only 10 points more than a single Stormraven.

Also, I'm not too familiar with them but I'm pretty sure the issue with Wave Serpents is getting past their shield rather than their armour. I could see them being useful against Necrons tho, as I'm pretty sure most of their stuff are skimmers and a lot are AV13.

I'm surprised nobody caught this. There is no serpent shield on the rear armour of the Wave Serpent.

 warpspider89 wrote:

Dundas wrote:

I agree it's a good tank considering how cheap it is points wise. The main draw back I see with it is that it takes up a heavy support slot and can't be squadroned. Three of these would screwing over most flyer heavy lists for only 10 points more than a single Stormraven.

Also, I'm not too familiar with them but I'm pretty sure the issue with Wave Serpents is getting past their shield rather than their armour. I could see them being useful against Necrons tho, as I'm pretty sure most of their stuff are skimmers and a lot are AV13.

I'm surprised nobody caught this. There is no serpent shield on the rear armour of the Wave Serpent.

Unfortunately you have to miss your target first to hit the rear armor with savant lock, so more often than naught you will be firing against the Serpent Shield, though you almost hope to miss your first turn shot.

Unfortunately you have to miss your target first to hit the rear armor with savant lock, so more often than naught you will be firing against the Serpent Shield, though you almost hope to miss your first turn shot.

OMG This could actually be a tactic I'm good at, although I will have to roll a 5+ to hit the rear Armour but yeah, what an EPIC circumstance......WHOOSH....haha Mokeigh you missed .....OH REALLY? *BOOM*.

 Zagman wrote:

 warpspider89 wrote:

Dundas wrote:

I agree it's a good tank considering how cheap it is points wise. The main draw back I see with it is that it takes up a heavy support slot and can't be squadroned. Three of these would screwing over most flyer heavy lists for only 10 points more than a single Stormraven.

Also, I'm not too familiar with them but I'm pretty sure the issue with Wave Serpents is getting past their shield rather than their armour. I could see them being useful against Necrons tho, as I'm pretty sure most of their stuff are skimmers and a lot are AV13.

I'm surprised nobody caught this. There is no serpent shield on the rear armour of the Wave Serpent.

Unfortunately you have to miss your target first to hit the rear armor with savant lock, so more often than naught you will be firing against the Serpent Shield, though you almost hope to miss your first turn shot.

And more importantly, the Wave Serpent isn't a Flyer or FMC, so you will never get Savant Lock on a Wave Serpent (or Necron AB/GA).

You could move at cruising speed and thus, snapshop the missile to try and miss a flyer, hoping for a next-turn rear armour hit. Not really useful what with serpents beings skimmers, but hey... maybe GW will put that stupid shield on a flyer in the future.

Why is the Stalker better than a plain ol Quad Gun? Please to not say Servo-Tracking......

Glocknall wrote:
Why is the Stalker better than a plain ol Quad Gun? Please to not say Servo-Tracking......

You can have more.

Still not good....I'd rather take a Broadside with HYMP.

You can have multiple stalkers?

Blarg Ninjas.

Glocknall wrote:
Still not good....I'd rather take a Broadside with HYMP.

True, I honestly see no reason why the Hunter and Stalker can't have interceptor.

So the group and my friends already houseruled it to have them.

Squadrons of them in a Siege Assault Vanguard list would be pretty fearsome.

But it does seem that the Hunter definitely is the superior anti-aircraft weapon.

Glocknall wrote:
Why is the Stalker better than a plain ol Quad Gun? Please to not say Servo-Tracking......

Ap2 and armor bane means it will actually blow up an av 12 flier, and it's 30 points cheaper.

Pony_law wrote:

Glocknall wrote:
Why is the Stalker better than a plain ol Quad Gun? Please to not say Servo-Tracking......

Ap2 and armor bane means it will actually blow up an av 12 flier, and it's 30 points cheaper.

Erm, the Stalker is the better Hydra, the Hunter is what you're talking about.

He said stalker not the hunter.

which he should make a new thread for anyway.

Edit: DAMN YOU NINJA KAIN!

 Desubot wrote:
He said stalker not the hunter.

which he should make a new thread for anyway.

Edit: DAMN YOU NINJA KAIN!

You can't outrace the Heir of Breath, for I fly on the breeze and am gone with the wind.

 Kain wrote:

Glocknall wrote:
Still not good....I'd rather take a Broadside with HYMP.

True, I honestly see no reason why the Hunter and Stalker can't have interceptor.

So the group and my friends already houseruled it to have them.

Squadrons of them in a Siege Assault Vanguard list would be pretty fearsome.

But it does seem that the Hunter definitely is the superior anti-aircraft weapon.

I'd see the main issue with them having interceptor is that it lets them fire full BS at ground targets, which I think makes them pretty overpowered for their price. St 7 Armourbane with a 60" range is pretty brutal against tanks.

 Kain wrote:
True, I honestly see no reason why the Hunter and Stalker can't have interceptor.
So the group and my friends already houseruled it to have them.

Because that would be 70 points to ID every flyer as soon as it enters play.
It are 70 points that can kill almost any model within 60"

I would never, never, allow people to play this as Interceptor.
It's so overpowered that nothing compares to it.

Once shot you are free to penetrate them.

Obligatory "that's what she said" response.

-------------------

I like the hunter, I play Eldar a lot, so may grab one to help with Serpents. The biggest issue I have is that they contend with all the other juicy HS options that soak our codex.

It's still not as good as a Vendetta, even with interceptor.

Martel732 wrote:
It's still not as good as a Vendetta, even with interceptor.

It's almost half the price of a Vendetta tho.